The subject material of this manual is intended to provide the beginning and inexperienced writer with information regarding the expectations, and often demands, of agents and publishers in the American publishing market. For previously unpublished writers, there are 'unwritten laws' leading to either acceptance or rejection of scripts, sometimes seeming to be unfair, but apparently necessary to confront the deluge of unsolicited materials from aspiring authors. The agent's/editor's best and most frequently used tool is a form letter of rejection.

What is the 'bottom-line' to having a script accepted? A whole bunch of things, but, this section is primarily written to introduce you to the purpose of this manual, not to go into great detail which will be covered in later pages. In brief, your short story, novel, or whatever, must be as perfect as you can possibly make it prior to submission. This is one area where all writer's handbooks will be in mutual agreement, yet, some will differ as to what is the most important part of the new script-- storyline, grammar, etc., etc.

In my opinion, without a good, sound and fresh idea--something that will really grab the reader--the writer has a work of futility. Once the idea is there, then the technical and grammatical correctness of the presentation come into play--which leads into the need of having at least some reasonable understanding of fiction and nonfiction writing.

One wouldn't consider becoming a space engineer, biologist, or car mechanic for that matter, without having an educational knowledge in the subject behind them, but, let me make one thing clear from the beginning. I'm not one that believes you have to go to Harvard or Yale, or even require formal education, to achieve high-standards in many trades and arts. There have been endless people who have become highly successful from nothing more than hands-on experience and being self-taught, and/or using the God-given talents they possess. Of course, personally speaking, if I ever needed brain surgery I might search for a doctor with some fairly stringent background qualifications.

Bookshelves are full of 'How-To' and 'Self-Help' publications. They are available for your use--I've read many of them in the past. I find most seem to cover the writer's own experiences in becoming published and rehash the 'do's and don'ts' more than providing tutorial help and editorial advice. With every successful help-book author, you'll get a different story.

Don't ever get discouraged or stop writing. Stephen King struggled for many years before making his breakthrough with Carrie. Tom Clancy reached his first success by having an inside track to President Reagan with Red October. You can be assured these two examples are the 'rule-of-thumb,' not the exception, in what it often takes to get published. Unfortunately, who you know is often the best way in the 'front door.' Most of us may never reach their pinnacle of success, but none should ever give up trying.

The difference between my manual and the usual bookshelf 'Help Manuals,' is you will be informed and educated in the proper use of formatting, grammatical punctuation, plotting, dialogue voices, characterization, specialized and individual tutoring, and all you need to know to reach a standard of professionalism in your writing. Our manual is a backup teaching tool to compliment our one-on-one tutorial techniques.